The aesthetics of silence in childiren's literature: Mavisel Yener example

In narrative art, what the author leaves unsaid is as important as what they express. The aesthetics of silence is employed both to establish the delicate balance between the known and unknown in the construction of narrative elements and to create economy of language within the narrative. Avoiding repetition and unnecessary explanations, expressing the matter with few words, is the requirement of silence. Silence enables the story to be told without added commentary. The potential meanings that will emerge on the horizon of the text depend on the author's silence. Thanks to the ambiguity created by silence, both the message of the text is woven between the lines and the vitality of the narrative is preserved. The purpose of this study is to identify the functions of the aesthetics of silence in children's literature. For this purpose, Mavisel Yener's works, which are suitable for examining the literary quality in the context of silence, namely Dolunay Dedektifleri-1/ İz Peşinde, Dolunay Dedektifleri -2/ Dehşet Mektuplar, Piri Reis ve Göbeklitepe'deki Sır and Mustafa Kemal'in Kayıp Seslerinin İzinde have been selected as samples. In this qualitative study, a phenomenological design has been used. The works have been examined in terms of narrative elements in the context of the aesthetics of silence. The methods that make silence possible in the text have been exemplified. It has been determined that elements such as intertextuality, narrator preference, and point of view are effective in the reduction of the narrative. It has been found that silence in literature has functions such as postponing the resolution of the knots in the fiction by keeping the narrator's curiosity alive, allowing the reader to make predictions about the development of the events in the text by moving from their own experiences, and creating space in the fiction by opening the way for creative thinking. It has been concluded that the aesthetics of silence supports children's literature, which has goals such as instilling reading pleasure and awareness in the child, teaching national and moral values, teaching empathy, and instilling critical thinking skills, in terms of its qualities of presenting the message implicitly, providing effective expression with few words, activating mental skills, and encouraging metaphorical thinking.